To contribute to the effort
of increasing communication at SJC, the Counseling Center will now have a
representative present at every school meeting. Not only will this allow
them to update the school on their policies and procedures, but will allow
the staff to present any issues or concerns directly to a member of the
Counseling staff. Ken provided all in attendance a handout outlining the
procedure for handling a student referral and tracking the student’s
needs. Along with hiring another counselor, the center has installed a
paging system that will ensure care for any student in a crisis situation.
The Counseling Center’s services are also available to SJC employees.

Updates from the Dean: Oliver Borden

Campus Security: In light
of recent events involving a student’s domestic issues being brought to
the campus, all faculty have been asked to keep the doors to their
classrooms locked from the outside while class is in session.

Shared Message from the LLT

▫Advisory Committees: Administration would like to
thank everyone who volunteered to serve on the advisory committees. The
progress of each committee will be shared with everyone as it becomes available.

▫Student Advisory Committees: All departments have been
asked to form a Student Advisory Committee to better address the needs of the
students we serve.

▫Scheduling for Spring and Summer 2008: All classes
have been entered into DATATEL for the Spring 2008 course schedule. Students
will be able to register for Spring classes sometime in November 2007. We will
start work on the Summer and Interim schedule in the first part of the Spring
2008 semester.

▫Hybrid Courses: There has been some confusion among
the students as to what a hybrid course involves. Hybrid means a class that
combines traditional in-class learning with internet instruction. To help
clarify which classes are offered as hybrid, as well as any other
non-traditional classes such as evening and late start, SJC will be sending out
a test copy of the schedule to a small group of students. The test copy will
split classes by location, time, online, on-campus, etc.

▫AQIP Update:

§L7 – Expand Online Offerings: SJC
is considering an option that would open up the online world to more then just
online students. For example, giving on-campus students the ability to review
lecture notes and examples on-line to refresh their memory and assist them in completing
assignments.

§L5 – Expand and Fully Develop a
Dual Enrollment Program: Dual Enrollment is when a high school student is
required to take a course at the college level that counts toward their high
school credit requirement and is still counted as regular college credit. The
State of New Mexico is considering making Dual Enrollment mandatory. SJC will
continue to build on the already successful TEC program to better equip high
school students for their college careers.

▫Quick Check: All Department Heads should be working on
their AQIP Quick Checks at this time.

▫New Building Update: We are currently working on the
specifications for each individual room. This will ensure each room is properly
equipped for the instruments it will house. The estimated completion date has
been set for November 2008.

Department Updates

Dental: Dr. Julius Manz has been appointed as the Interim Director of Dental.

SJC
Dental Hygiene students have been selected to appear on the cover of RDH Focus.
It is a national magazine specially designed for Dental Hygiene students.

HHPC: Jon Betz has resigned
as the Director of the HHPC to accept a position in Admissions. Diana Lang has been appointed as the Interim Director. The Security Drill will be September 21st
and 22nd. A community member has requested that he celebrate
his 90th birthday by climbing the rock tower at the HHPC. That
will take place on Monday, September 24th.

HIT: Dr. Carroll Schnabel related an incident where an on-line student was lost due to a serious
miscommunication involving her financial aid. This disappointing mistake
not only cost us the student, but has tarnished SJC’s reputation in the
community she lives in. SJC is taking steps to correct the situation. HIT
is working on developing a Medical Terminology – Spanish course that will
either be counted as continuing education credits or college credits. The
Electronic Health Records course is progressing nicely.

Nursing: After five years, Sandi Irving has resigned as the Administrative Assistant IV for Nursing. Nursing will be
starting a search for the replacement in the coming weeks. There will be a
temporary employee helping the department until a replacement has been
hired. Olivia Hodgins and Shawna Kemper have been hired as instructors to
assist the future LPN to RN Cohort.

PTA: The Online students will
be on campus Monday, September 24th. The Program’s accrediting
body will also be on campus for a check up visit during that time.

Roundtable Discussion –
Open Forum

§An offer has been made for the
position of EMT Program Director. If accepted, the start date will be in
November.

§Though the skills labs and
classrooms in Phase I of the new building will be mainly for the new programs
housed there, they will be available to other programs in Health Sciences.
There will be a full-time staff member hired to coordinate the use of the labs.
Input on how the rooms are to be set up will be allowed from departments that
will be using the lab space. Phase II of the project will focus mainly on the
Respiratory program which will be funded by the Department of Labor Grant.
There has not been a final decision made on what will be housed in Phase III of
the project.

§Parking will become an issue when
the new building is finished as it will take up a large part of the overflow
parking area. Administration is considering different ways to address this
issue.

§Students have inquired about a new
Biology building being constructed on the HHPC overflow dirt parking lot.
Though this idea is addressed in SJC’s Facilities Master Plan, it is not
something that will occur in the near future.

§October 19th is still
reserved as a faculty inservice day, but a schedule has not been published yet.
Once again all were encouraged to pass on any ideas for training to Al Buyok
and Yvette Begay.

§Saturday, October 20, 2007 is the
Adjunct Learning Symposium.

§As the Summer/Interim and Fall
2008 schedules approach, all were asked to pass on any ideas for creative space
utilization.

The next School of Health Sciences staff meeting will
be Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 1:30pm in room 9010.